The invention relates to electrostatic systems for rejuvenating contaminated fluids by removing particles therefrom and more particularly to small systems for so removing particles.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,149,422 and 5,242,587 which shown a superior filter system of the described types. However, the system described in those patents is adapted to process fluid in a reservoir having a capacity in the range of 100-2000 gallons. The cost, servicing, and maintenance requirements are in scale with the size of these large systems. Technically, these patented systems are not limited on the lower end to this particular large volume, but they are not completely practical for use as small systems adapted to process fluid in, say, a 10-40 gallon reservoir, for example. The reasons for the large/small scale differences are many such as a need for the mechanical construction to contain large volumes, the manner of assembling, the size of the required power source, and the like. Another and somewhat similar large system is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,522.
Accordingly, merely scaling down a large system, such as described in the above-identified patents, is not an answer to the small system needs. Rather, for a small system, there should be a way of using injection molded plastic parts, assembling at lower cost, replacing parts without having to disassemble and reassemble everything in the system, shipping filters back to a factory or a service center, and the like.